Dining Out: Bacci's slices out a niche near BU

Pizza places and colleges go together.

At the University of Illinois, there's Papa Del's. At the University of Missouri in Columbia, there's Shakespeare's. At Bradley University, you have a cluster of choices on the northeast side of the campus: Avanti's, Papa John's and Pizza Hut. Even One World has its own pizza.

At the University of Illinois, there's Papa Del's. At the University of Missouri in Columbia, there's Shakespeare's. At Bradley University, you have a cluster of choices on the northeast side of the campus: Avanti's, Papa John's and Pizza Hut. Even One World has its own pizza.

Yet there's another pizza place right off the BU campus: Bacci Pizzeria, 1222 W. Bradley Ave., an outlet that sits all by itself across from Robbie's gas station on the less-traveled, less commercial corner of the college.

Here you'll find the kind of pizza joint that used to be the norm before the national chains took over. It's campy, casual and comfortable, plus you can get one big slice of pizza here. At Bacci's, a Chicago chain, they hang their hat on the jumbo slice, a monstrous piece of pizza that comes with a drink for $5.

We paid a visit over the weekend to sample some of Bacci's wares. We started with an order of cheesy bread ($2.95) that proved to be a trifle bland. If this was garlic bread, it was definitely short on the garlic but maybe that's what the masses want. Not me. The marinara sauce that came with it was a little on the light side, as well.

Next we went for a large boneless wing box (12 pieces for $7.95). You can't sell pizza anymore without offering wings. We weren't disappointed. I opted for the ranch dressing although other options included blue cheese dressing or barbecue sauce.

These were meaty little nuggets, moist but not greasy. They were good enough that, on my next visit to Bacci's, I might have to check out more of the chicken selections.

Now it was time to try the pizza. No, we didn't go jumbo. You can buy a 30-inch pizza here for $30, but we just weren't that hungry. Besides that big stuff is for parties when you want to impress the gang. This was a dining tour.

Among the array of specialty pizzas available here, we went for the large Bacci Man (Italian beef, onions, fresh garlic and Bacci hot giardiniera). Pizza here isn't cheap (the large was $21.55), but it's good. The crust has substance - a mite too much for my dining partner but I like a pizza with body, not some squirmy, sagging slice that heads south before you can hoist it to the lips.

The Bacci Man has flavor - the onion and garlic work together nicely while the Italian beef topping is relatively unobtrusive - and it's distinctive. This is not the run-of-the-mill sausage/pepperoni combo found everywhere else.

I happen to like the cheese used on this pizza although my dining companion was less enthusiastic. There's just no accounting for taste. There's not enough room in this column for an accounting of all the items you'll find on the Bacci menu, but there is a lot to choose from: appetizers, salads, chicken, fish, sandwiches, pasta and dessert.

Page 2 of 2 - As for the service, you get plenty of it here. They cater to students so it's a given that they've developed patience over the years. But you don't have to be a college student to hang out here. The laid-back atmosphere is conducive to any kind of a gathering that just wants to chow down.

Most of us travel the same path when it comes to pizza. We have our favorites and that's fine, but you owe it to yourself to check out the quiet corner at Bradley U for something new.